Quotes from Martha Graham

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there id only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.

A dancer isn't great because of their technique...they're great because of their passion.

I have heard stories that it was love at first sight for both of us, that we disappeared to a guest room at Merle's house, had our meals sent up, and didn't emerge for several days. This is absolutely untrue. I would never behave like that as a guest in someone's home. Carlos and I went to my beach house.

Don't stand when you can sit; don't sit when you can lie down.

To me, the body says what words cannot. I believe that dance was the first art.

We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. One becomes in some area an athlete of God.

It takes at least five years of rigorous training to be spontaneous.

Nothing is more revealing than movement. The body says what words cannot.

The body never lies." Martha Graham

I never set out to create a technique. I started out on the floor to find myself, to find what the body could do, and what would give me satisfaction - emotionally, dramatically and bodily. But I did not ever dream of establishing a technique. I still can't believe anything like that happened.

Dancing is very like poetry.

No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time; it is just that others are behind the times.

No artist is pleased.... there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable it is nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

Dance is the hidden language of the soul

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.

What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.

All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.

Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.

People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that, you live all your life.

The only sin is mediocrity.

There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can